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Two years in the making, EMC Seafood & Raw Bar is opening — gradually — this week at The Collection at RiverPark in Oxnard.

The restaurant welcomed diners on April 14 for the first in a series of evening-only food-and-beverage service from a limited menu. The soft-opening approach will continue through Friday, when lunch hours and the full menu will take effect, general manager Kevin Mayo said.

Launched in Koreatown in 2013, EMC Seafood & Raw Bar now has five locations — including a restaurant in Woodland Hills that features just a handful of interior tables and bar stools in addition to its patio.

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The dining room at EMC Seafood & Raw Bar in Oxnard features a gold-accented crab mural painted by The Draculas, as artists Jeff McMillan and Gary Musgrave are known.(Photo: LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR)

At roughly 5,200 square feet and with a capacity of 224 people, the much larger Oxnard site offers a mix of round, rectangular and square tables in its interior dining room, which is dominated by a massive framed mirror and by a mural — painted by Jeff McMillan and Gary Musgrave of The Draculas — of a giant crab with gold accents. A row of folding glass doors separates the bar from the outdoor patio.

The restaurant also serves wine, sake and a selection of cocktails ($12-$14) that includes a barrel-aged Old Fashioned.

Soft-opening hours will continue from 6:30-10 p.m. Tuesday, 5-10 p.m. Wednesday and 6:30-10 p.m. Thursday. The latter follows a by-reservation-only grand-opening ceremony presented in conjunction with the Oxnard Chamber of Commerce. On Friday, hours will be from 11:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. (511 Town Center Drive, Suite 3015, 805-278-4997, http://www.emcseafood.com).

Elsewhere in Oxnard, a "future home of" sign for Grocery Outlet banner has appeared at what used to be a Haggen store (and an Albertsons before that) in the Fremont Square shopping center (920 N. Ventura Road). The discount grocery chain also has a Ventura site in the works at a former Ralphs (9372 Telephone Road). For information about the chain, visit https://groceryoutlet.com.

Ventura's surf culture is the inspiration for Stoked Coffee Co. & Acai Bowls, poised to open late this month or early next at what closed in February as Sunflowers on the Square Kitchen & Bakery at the historic El Jardin Courtyard. The new business will also serve what co-owners Aubrey Rasmussen and Cammy Morrell winkingly refer to as "fancy toast" topped with avocado, almond butter, or local, seasonal jams (451 E. Main St., Suite 8, 805-677-9201, https://www.stokedcoffeeventura.com).

About a block away, signs went up last weekend for the previously mentionedCasa Bella Prime Steak & Seafood, an additional project from the owner of Prime Steakhouse restaurants in midtown Ventura and Agoura Hills. A peek through an open door revealed that the visible portion of the interior is in its drywall phase (391 E. Main St.).

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The Santa Paula restaurant formerly known as Familia Diaz has new owners, a new sign and a new name: Chapala Mexican Restaurant.(Photo: LISA MCKINNON/THE STAR)

But in Santa Paula, the long-running Mexican restaurant Familia Diaz is no more — at least under that name. Founded by members of the Diaz family in 1936 as a saloon called Las Quince Letras, the restaurant was sold to new owners who took possession of it in January 2016. The building has since been remodeled, the cart-style salsa bar removed and a new name introduced: Chapala Mexican Restaurant.

The menu includes such especial dishes as molcajete with skirt steak, chicken, chorizo, shrimp, cactus and cheese served in a hot lava-rock bowl ($20.75) in addition to burritos ($9.95-$10.95), tacos ($3.95-$14.95) and enchiladas with rice and beans ($11.95-$12.95). Beer, wine and cocktails are available. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays (245 S. 10th St., 805-525-2813).

Lisa McKinnon is a staff writer for The Star. Her Cafe Society column appears most Fridays in the Time Out section and Sundays in the Life section. For between-column updates, follow 805foodie on Twitter and Instagram and "like" the VCS Eats Facebook page. To have the new VCS Eats newsletter delivered directly to your inbox, go to http://bit.ly/VCS_Eats and type in your email address.